Wordwyrt

swerve

/sˈwɜːv/SWURV
/sˈwɝv/SWURV

Meaningrub or file

Common meaning: change direction suddenly

Journey through time

  1. Old Englishsweorfan‘rub or file’sourceB&T
  2. Middle Englishmeaning shiftsrub or file → turn asideswerven‘turn aside’source
  3. Englishmeaning shiftsturn aside → change direction suddenlyswerve‘change direction suddenly’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Old English sweorfan ‘rub or file’.

Roots

Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app